We're not suggesting that we should be deserting our fridges and ovens for a character building SAS Survival Weekend; or even enjoy a back-to-basics experience in a Medieval re-enactment village… but here's some food for thought… Imagine, just for a moment, that you'd been dropped in the middle of a forest, an ordinary field, the edge of a road or railway track, or even on a beach. What would you do? And most importantly, how would you eat?

Before you shout - "I'm a Foodie, get me out of here!…" breathe in the fresh air and look around you. If you know what to forage for, there's a veritable feast of rich pickings out there.

Novices should also carry a plant guide such as naturalist Richard Mabey's classic book - Food For Free. To find out more about organised plant or fungi forays, pay a visit to the Forestry Commission website

Prepare for your foraging trip with a plastic carrier bag or two, a stout walking stick that can be used to pull down laden branches or to fight off brambles, plus tough gloves for picking nettles or sloes.

As the boundaries between town and country become increasingly blurred there are some simple principles that must be followed:

• Avoid hedgerows near heavy traffic or boundaries that may have been inadvertently sprayed by drifting pesticide or are near old industrial sites.
• Wash foraged food thoroughly before eating it, regardless of where it's grown. It's also sensible not to pick low-growing plants along paths popular with dog walkers.
• Under the Wildlife and Countryside act (1981) it's also illegal to uproot any species without permission from the landowner

"People see wild food being routinely used by television chefs such as Rick Stein, but people also enjoy foraging out of sense of nostalgia for the past. It allows them to have a direct link with nature."
David Thorp, the Forestry Commission in England

Feel free to share your ideas on your home grown and wild eating experiences

From the highs and lows of vegetable growing to any wild food ventures you might have been on, the forum is the place to spread what you know and tell us your views.

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Foraging for wild plants and fungi is exciting, unpredictable and free! In this country you'll find so much on our doorstep that most of us would just trample over going for walk. Here are just some of the edible plants, flowers, seaweeds, nuts and fungi you'll find all over the UK that will give an exotic, unexpected flavour to all kinds of sweet and savoury dishes:

Wood sorrel

Some chefs cook this in between fillets of sea bass as it has a piquant quality. Can also be eaten raw.

Wild chervil

Can be used to make herb dumplings or added into mashed potato.

Rosebay willowherb

High in vitamins A and C, the leaves look similar to lamb's lettuce but have more flavour. Good in salad or with cold meats.

Chickweed

This sprawling tender little plant tastes like lamb's lettuce when raw, and when cooked it changes to something more like spinach. It was once sold widely at London vegetable markets.

Bittercress

Found on woodland floors and among disturbed soil, bittercress has a mustardy aftertaste. Great for flavouring soups and sauces or eaten raw.

Elderflower

Found along hedgerows and lanes, their blowsy flowerheads smell of Muscat, lemon and honey. Their fantastic fresh aroma is best captured in jellies and cordials.

Wild garlic

The fresh young leaves can be used in salads, added to soups and stews as a flavouring and makes a tasty alternative to cabbage in 'bubble and squeak'. You can also wrap it around trout instead of aluminium foil.

Stinging nettle

Cook the young tips as you would spinach to make soup; or infuse the leaves as a herbal tea. However, do not eat mature flowering plants as they can cause kidney damage.

Dandelion

The flowers and young leaves can be eaten raw in a salad, but avoid the full grown leaves as they are too bitter. Cook it like spinach or in a soup. The root of an established dandelion is roasted and used to make coffee which can be bought in health food shops.

Sweet Cicely

Often found on waysides and stream banks, every part of this plant can be eaten; the thick root boiled like parsnip, the stems boiled or roasted as for celery. The leaves have distinctly sugary overtones to their mild aniseed flavour and are ideal for flavouring stewed fruits such as rhubarb, gooseberries and plums in place of sugar.

Blackberries

Delicious in crumbles and made into jam.

Wild Rosehips

The tiny fruits appear from late August to November. The seeds are covered with tiny hairs and care should be taken to strain the cooked hips through fine muslin. Rosehips are reputed to contain four times as much vitamin C as blackcurrant juice and twenty times as much as oranges!

Wild Watercress

Found in moving freshwater streams and ditches, the older, sturdier plants are tangier than the young leaves. To be on the safe side, always cook wild watercress - this kills the larvae of the liver fluke, which is common in uncultivated watercress.

Marsh Samphire

Available during July and August at low tide, this delectable seashore succulent used to be nicknamed the "poor man's asparagus". Now it's a widespread fancy garnish for restaurant fish, as well as an indigenous seaside holiday souvenir. Roast it as you would asparagus, in a little butter with a sprinkling of salt. Then eat the fronds with your fingers, using your teeth to pull the flesh off the long, thin 'thread-like' core.

Sea Purslane

Coming from the same family as Samphire, you'll find this variety of seaweed on salt marshes and in estuaries. Great in risotto and with roast potatoes. It turns bright green when cooked and goes well with lamb.

Sloes

These berries have a unique flavour that makes excellent Sloe Gin.

Borage

The leaves can be eaten in salad and added to jugs of Pimms.

Cobnuts

These are a type of wild hazelnut that tend to grow in clusters. They're used in savoury dishes, such as nut roast, and in many cakes, biscuits and puddings, as well as being a key ingredient in praline chocolate.

Wild mushrooms

Wild mushrooms grow throughout the year, but a cool wet autumn offers the most abundant and varied seasonal eating. Find a local mushroom picking day and organised events and forays that will even teach you what is, or isn't, safe to eat.
Mushroom hunting satisfies some basic instinct - plus you're getting for free what other people pay handsomely for. You can gather dozens of edible varieties from Britain's forests and fields. Only pick fully open specimens, as immature fungi are hard to identify correctly. And leave older ones to spread their spores for the next growth. Have a read of last month's article - The Magic of Mushrooms to find out more about the mighty 'shroom and all it's culinary uses.

Jew's Ear

This flat, ear shaped mushroom can be found at all times of the year almost exclusively on dead or dying Alder trees it can also be found on Beech. it is much prized in Chinese cookery and can be a useful addition to soups and stews.

Field mushroom

This variety is among the commonest wild mushrooms and looks much like the 'ordinary' cultivated variety that you see in the shops. They grow on pastureland and their bright white shapes are really easy to spot in the grass. They make the most sublime mushrooms on toast, simply grilled with butter.

Puffballs

Puffballs can sometimes be found the size of footballs, so one can go a long way; they are delicious, have a wonderful texture and can be cooked like any other mushroom.

We hope you'll enjoy a spot of foraging in the future and hopefully eating some of the wild delicacies mentioned here. Tell us about your adventures on the forum, perhaps you've even created some recipes that have been inspired by your gatherings.